Stop that! He’s alive. These beasts won’t hurt a child.
That’s what I tell myself because without believing that I won’t have the strength to survive.
“Come on, Orc. Stop stalling. Or are you afraid of a mere human?” I shout at him because it’s either that or run.
He stops, the ridges on his brow rising. His bottom lip curls back, showing me how incredibly long those tusks are. Fucking long! I can’t stop the shudder traveling through me.
I narrow my eyes as his lower lip curls upward. Is he grinning? Actually grinning at me, like this situation isamusing? Fuck that. Fuck him! If he even attempts to lay one of those thick green fingers on me, he’ll find out how hard I hit.
“You will return to Mount Racha with me, female.”
“Go to hell, Orc.”
“A human construct, as I understand it. And yet I’ve already been there and returned. You, though, my small female, will not return to your people. Ever.”
Never see my Ethan again? Rage fuels me. I swing at the orc as hard as I can, pouring all my energy and body into the blow.
The branch halts, his large hand wrapped around the end. He barely moved, and his eyes, beautiful green with flecks of gold, remain locked on mine. It’s beyond unnerving.
“Now what?” I say, refusing to let go of the branch.
He yanks it toward him, and I fly forward, still gripping the branch.
Those green eyes never leave me. Why can’t I look away?
I don’t know. I don’twantto know. I tug on the branch, and it doesn’t move from his iron grip. His lip curls further. Those tusks look enormous close up. All of him does. That’s the point. Intimidation.
I let go. “Have the damn branch.” That’s when I do something incredibly stupid. I turn my back on him. Why the fuck I do so is beyond me, but I know it isn’t out of fear. People don’t turn their backs on danger.
A hand clamps down on my shoulder. Not a painful grip, but not exactly light either. Just enough to stop me from fleeing.
Like a deer caught in headlights, I freeze up and don’t move. The orc inches closer until his body presses against my back and his head towers over me, blocking the moonlight, the breeze, and what’s left of my survival instincts.
A hand encircles my throat, the fingers fully wrapping around. That’s how large he is. He could choke me or snap my neck with minimal effort.
The warm callused fingertips move up my throat and along my jaw, then across my right clavicle. I haven’t been touched with such gentleness in a very long time, and it softens my hatred for this monster. I’m not supposed to like his touch.
And yet…I do.
His fingers glide up my throat to my jawline and cheek, before sliding into my hair, just as something hard pokes my ass cheeks through my thin dress. I dare not move.
Soft lips brush my ear as his warm breath cascades down my exposed neck. He inhales deeply. He’sscentingme.
God help me, I draw in a deep breath, pulling this male’s scent into my lungs. I’m no animal.
Neither are the orcs. Despite what my people say.
And yet I luxuriate in his masculine musk. Clean, woodsy, with a hint of smoke from the attack on my people.
Ethan!
I spin around and slap the orc’s face. Fuck, that’s not the way to attack a monster, but all the fear and anger poured out of me with the only weapon I have left. My hand.
He flashes those tusks again.
I should have fisted my hand before striking him.
“You want me, female,” he says with what I’m convinced is a grin. A smug, condescending, arrogant grin.
